Writing without Paper - Paulo Alegre

on
                   Translator Tablet - Late Babylonian - ca. late 1st millennium B.C.


In the late Babylonian period, Sumerian language was extinct and Akkadian language was following the same path to extinction. This clay tablet, written in cuneiform, demonstrate an effort to record both languages for future reading interpretations. The left side has Sumerian entries, and the right side has Akkadian translations. It could be function as a Rosetta stone to translate much older cuneiform tablets.


Panel of a Writing Board - ca. 721 - 705 B.C.


Clay was not the only material used to make cuneiform tablet. This Image shows a pair of Ivory panels used to write Cuneiform texts on beeswax. Ivory tablets provide a flatter surface to write and provides better protection to the wax surface. In addition, these tablets can be reused if the content are not meant to be permanent
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The attachment points for the hinges that held two or more leaves together are marked by ridges along one of the long edges of each board. The smooth exterior faces mimic the covers of a book when closed. A raised edge surrounds a writing surface carved into the board and roughened with cross-hatched scratches on the inner edges. Beeswax was applied to this surface, and the scratches helped the wax stick to the smooth ivory more securely. A scribe might then create marks in the wax with a pointed stylus. Although the majority of manuscripts from the ancient Near East are believed to have been written on clay tablets, ivory or wooden writing boards with wax surfaces may have been more popular than archaeological evidence suggests.


Amarna letter: Royal Letter from Abi-milku of Tyre to the king of Egypt
ca. 1353–1336 B.C.

One of the many uses given to Cuneiform tablets was for diplomatic purposes. the Language use in this letter was Akkadian. This letter, one of eleven that have survived from Abi-milku (the ruler of the Levantine city of Tyre - modern day Lebanon), makes it apparent that the vassal king anticipated security from his Egyptian overlord in exchange for his allegiance.
Cuneiform tablets in this case serve as important political and diplomatic tool among kingdoms and demonstrates how disseminated cuneiform scripting was in the middle east.



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Amarna letter: Royal Letter from Abi-milku of Tyre to the king of Egypt [Digital Image]. 

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